blog

Portico - the movie

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:34:06 +0100

A lot has happened since my last blog post. One thing in particular is the filming of Portico, a short story from my upcoming eBook collection, Lost in the Dark.

It all started a few months ago when Stephan Verwey from the Bloemfontein Ghost Tours asked to turn one of my short stories into a movie. They are starting their own movie company, Haunted House Productions, and needed a story for their first movie. I of course immediately said yes, as this is a great opportunity for not only them and me, but for our city as well (which seriously needs a boost of culture). We have so many talented people here, who end up moving to other cities to fulfil their dreams.

We quickly brainstormed the setting, seeing how we have quite a few haunted spots in Bloemfontein to use, and that the setting would greatly influence the story. We decided on the old abandoned Naval Hill observatory/theatre, which I blogged about quite a few times. What better than an actual haunted building?

I agreed to write the story in one month, completely unaware it would end up being my longest story to date, and filming started on the sixth of May. It didn’t take Stephan long to hold auditions, start with rehearsals, organize the caterers, makeup artists and even a couple of experienced directors to help out.

I even had my first newspaper interview last week with the Volksblad newspaper. Everyone is really happy about what this project would mean to our city, being such a huge effort by local talents.

Hats off to the actors as well, who are really putting their all into this project. They are mostly acting students, but with the direction and coaching of Graham Howes, they are picking up all the necessary skills to make this movie a success. I’m learning a few things myself. Thanks to Graham also for the use of his sound equipment.

It didn’t take long after our newspaper article and the launch of our Facebook page for me to meet quite a few people from the SA independent film scene, from directors to actors, including very beautiful actresses, and other writers. It’s always great to meet people with a passion for stories, whatever format the story might present itself in.

So no matter how things play out in the end, it’s already been worth the effort, just meeting all these great people and giving this project our best shot. We’ve even had a few extras on the set from a local High School.

Hopefully things go well from here on out. I will keep everyone posted. Be sure to follow us on the Facebook page for more up to the minute news and behind the scenes photos. It might not be Hollywood, but it sure is exciting.

The release of the movie is scheduled for August 1^st 2012, the same day as my short story collection Lost in the Dark. The story for the movie will be included in the book. I won’t say much on the story itself, which basically follows a couple of friends trapped inside a haunted observatory/theatre with a terribly secret past. Conflict arises between old friends, ex lovers, the believers and non-believers within their group. And let’s not forget what’s waiting for them inside the building.

All the best,

Joe

Undead Tales 2

Tue, 08 May 2012 15:37:42 +0100

Rymfire Books, which brought you titles such as Undead Tales and Zombie Writing, has just released (or should I say unleashed) Undead Tales 2, which, yay for me, contains my short story The Dead Don’t Sleep Here Anymore. Before I tell you more about the story, here’s a run-through of the other great writers and poets included in this zombie anthology. The book was edited by none other than Mark Lewis. Out of 343 submissions, these were the best:

Eat Your Disease by David Dunwoody

Like A Bee In My Heart by David Boop

Carnivore Ways! By Rich Orth

The Suicide Program by Robert Essig

New World Order! By Rich Orth

Flesh Sandwiches by Kris Ashton

Zombie Kibosh Crew by Natasha Hanova

In A Crazy by Anthony Valade

DNR by William R.D. Wood

A Rose For The Lady by Anthony Valade

The Dead Don't Sleep Here Anymore by Joe Mynhardt

Lusting! By Rich Orth & Ashlee Napier

The Conner Family by Armand Rosamilia

Gray Days of Dorian! By Rich Orth

The Diabolic Machine by Jonathan D. Spiffy

Dead Woman Walking by L.R. Collins

One Or Two Ways by Anthony Valade

Lard Butt by Jonathan W. Lambert

The Reaper Rides by Brent Abell

Escape From Three Mile Island by Rob Rosen

The Hunt by Larry C. Kerr

Distraught Dreaming by Anthony Valade

All His At Last by Jonathan Templar

But It's Not The End by Matt Moore

What an honour to have my story make it in. I think the best part of this entire project was working with Armand Rosamilia. What a treat to get to know him better. Feel free to click here to check out some of Armand’s books.

Now I’ve walked quite a road with The Dead Don’t Sleep Here Anymore. It started as a flash fiction idea (back when I only wrote flash), but insisted on getting more white space to fill. I wanted to write a story about life after the zombie outbreak, with people living in caves and fenced encampments, not to mention underground tunnels running through a graveyard. I’d rather not say more about that.

The story, written in first person, follows the son of the camp’s commanding officer as he goes on night watch. His guard duty turns into an underground battle against zombies and human betrayal. Will he survive and uncover their civilization’s biggest secret? Or has he just put his own son’s life in danger. You’ll have to find that out for yourself by either getting a print or kindle edition of this amazing book.

This story has captivated my mind so much that I’m even working on a comic book version. The story line starts out the same, same characters as well, but takes a heavy turn later on.

If you do buy a copy, please let me know what you think about my story. And tell your friends. Maybe even write an Amazon review while you’re at it. If you can’t, an Amazon ‘like’ or even sharing the link would be great.

Undead Tales 2 is available in print and eBook at Amazon, Smashwords and Createspace.

All the best.

Lost in your own Fictional World

Tue, 08 May 2012 15:37:24 +0100

One thing I’ve noticed since I started writing, is that writing can be one hell of an emotional rollercoaster. And the problem is, you have to sit tight and let it take you.

For instance, when I started out, I thought writing horror was only about scaring people. Nothing made me happier than scaring myself late at night with a few tactical scenes. That’s why I loved flash fiction so much. Then I realized I wasn’t opening myself up enough on an emotional level. I wasn’t letting the reader into my world. To be honest, I think I was too scared to do that. But that’s what being a writer is about, no matter what genre you write in.

So I tossed aside the cardboard characters and started writing short stories with a lot more characterization. Now, no matter what your characters goes through, a reader won’t really care what happens to the characters unless they can either relate, or see them the characters as real people. Real people have real problems. All us have experienced pretty much every emotion at different levels, and it’s a writers duty to tap into those emotions. And trust me, that’s a damn slippery edge to walk on sometimes.

I’ve gone down some dark detours when delving into aspects of fear, love, loss, hate, damnation etc.

Everyone reading this must’ve finished at least a couple of novels in their lifetime, right? Now imagine how you lost yourself in the character’s world for the couple of days you spent there. Imagine spending months or even years there, trapped and scared, not knowing how to get out or if you ever will. Spending so much time on something that has a 90% chance of never being read.

It’s very easy to fall into that emotion and struggle to get back out. No wonder so many writers are depressed alcoholic’s who die way too young. I believe that every writer has got to have a very strong support team at home, who know what he or she is going through. Writing is damn fulfilling, but don’t ever think it’s easy.

I’m lucky enough to have a great support team of writers as well. Most of them I’ve met through Facebook, Mywriterscircle, IFWG Publishing, Library of the living Dead and the Horror Writers Net. It’s nice to chat to someone who doesn’t only understand what you’re going through, but who has experienced it first hand.

I don’t want to scare anyone away from becoming a writer (the more the merrier), but good writing is hard to pull off consistently. And without any support, don’t even attempt it as a career.

My advice, if you feel yourself slipping too deep into a certain character’s world, is to step back for a while and write something else. Perhaps a short story with characters not as in-depth as your novel’s characters. Spend time with other writers. Hang out. Joke and laugh. Read an uplifting story if you have to. Just don’t be scared to get back to your story. You’ll be surprised how well you know that character when you meet him or her again.

All the best.

POV Character #2

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 14:30:45 +0100

A few weeks ago I blogged about Beorn, the point of view character in my novel, They Came From Shadows (click here if you missed it).

Today I’m going to talk a bit more about another important character in the book, a boy whose worth increases with every page of the book. He is also the second and last pov character.

Sven, the younger brother of the woman chosen to care for the injured Beorn, experiences the arrival and influence of the warrior on the village from a unique perspective. Not only does the boy have his own journey of self-discovery or his family’s secret origins to contend with, but he also needs to stand his ground against his sister, the village, and even his new friend Beorn. Not to mention the forces of darkness that want to flick him out of the way.

He’ll have to make the ultimate choices where every right decision has at least one bad outcome.

In the end he’ll have to use every ounce of bravery and wisdom he has to help Beorn and save as many people as he can, or at least the right ones. And although the fate of the Germanics lie in the hands of Beorn, the fate of Beorn rests with Sven.

All the best.

POV Character #1

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 14:36:42 +0100

This morning I reached the middle of my second draft of my very first novel, and the idea of introducing you to my first pov character clobbered me over the head.

Here follows a quick summary of one of my two main characters (his goals, values, obstacles etc.):

Beorn, a warrior of the Marsi tribe, is in his mid-thirties. After being mortally injured in a battle between the Germanic tribes and the Romans, he somehow comes back to life and is taken in by the Bructeri tribe.

His goal at first is to make it back to his own village and re-join the ranks of his tribe in an attempt to push back the Roman retaliation.

Of course things don’t work out that way and he is trapped inside the Bructeri village. Not only does his temper and tendency towards violence make life difficult for him and those around him, but nightmares and dark entities force him into a battle for the lives of his new friends, his mind, his own life, and eventually his soul.

And what more can be at risk, you may ask: Let’s just say the path Beorn chooses will have a devastating effect on the future of Germany, Europe and the world.

There are however a few characters in the village lending him a hand, but also others who stand in his way, pushing him closer and closer to the dark side.

Next time I’ll introduce you to one of these characters, a young boy names Sven, who knows more about people’s underlying evil than anyone else.

All the best.

Click here to read about the second pov character, Sven.

Darker Minds

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:28:35 +0100

After the success of the first Dark Minds anthology (nominated for anthology of the year at ThisIsHorror.co.uk), I’m happy to say that Dark Minds Press decided to launch a second anthology, appropriately named Darker Minds. The cover artist is the award-winning Ben Baldwin.

What excites me even more than reading all the great stories prowling within, is once again having one of my stories included. What an honour to work with an editor like Ross Warren over at Dark Minds Press, not to mention writers such as Gary McMahon, Gary Fry, Stephen Bacon, Ben Jones and many more. Still waiting for the final TOC, so I’ll let you know who else joins the asylum as soon as I hear more.

The overall theme of the anthology will deal with elements of mind control, with a little bit ambiguity thrown in to spice things up. This will clearly not be for fans of mild horror. Expect to be terrified. Expect anger, fear and altered perceptions of reality to spill from its pages.

My story ‘Rise, Dead Man’ follows a drug depraved young man on a quest for his next fix. It lands him in more than just deep trouble when he steals from the dead. His family, relationships, mind and life hangs in the balance as he tries to set things right.

The anthology, Darker Minds, will be available in March. Hope you get your copy. Then feel free to look me up and chat about it.

All the best.

Making My Mark

Tue, 08 May 2012 15:49:43 +0100

After I published my first short story in 2009, and becoming addicted to receiving acceptance letters, I spent several hours scouring the internet for possible markets. Little did I know about Duotrope.com back then.

I ended up making three lists that day. One contained the names of smaller markets I wanted to submit to, and the second the name of that one market I had been published in, Be-A-Better-Writer.co m.

The final list held the names of the larger markets I wanted to be published at one day. I knew I was only a beginner and that I would need a lot of patience and hard work to get into those markets, but the lists really motivated me.

Now, after writing for just over three years, I am quite happy with my progress through those three lists. I’ve managed to considerably lengthen the list of markets where my stories have been published. I’ve been published in all the smaller markets I originally aimed for. And I’ve recently made my mark with a couple of the bigger names as well.

It all started last year with my story The Battle In Osroth, which was published by Silver Blade Magazine. As well as my story Always Come Back, which was published by Dark Moon Books in their Frightmares anthology.

All this success gave me the courage to take on a market that had me sweating for years. Since I started writing I’ve always wanted to make it into Short-Story.Me. After being rejected five times, I realized I just wasn’t good enough yet, and stopped submitting. And towards the end of 2011, I got my acceptance. The story’s name is The Great Wall of Rubin, and you can read it here.

A few other markets I was really happy about breaking into were Tales of the Zombie War and Morpheus Tales.

For some writers these markets are still relatively small, but for any writer, this is where it all starts. Now it’s time for me to take on the rest of that list.

A few markets I’m aiming at are of course Apex, Shroud, Glimmer and The Gloaming. But I think this year I’ll also have a go at a few more print anthologies. I am already included in the Darker Minds anthology with a few well known names in horror, such as Gary McMahon, Gary Fry and Stephen Bacon (Edited by Anthony Ross Warren). Who knows who else will be added to that list?

All the best.

Rough Draft Complete

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 20:22:01 +0100

After roughly twenty days of writing, I’ve finished the first, and extremely rough, draft of my very first novel.

It only stands on about 30 000 words (which is about half of what I’m aiming at), but I haven’t included any descriptions or thoughts in my first draft. For now I’ve basically just written down the actual story, getting the plot down on paper. There are also a few key scenes that I just wrote down in a sentence or two, knowing that I’d only end up rewriting them once I got to that part of the novel.

It’s been very helpful to write the novel like this, because I spotted a couple of things the story needed, as well as rearranged a couple of scenes in order to strengthen the story. I’ve also deleted a few scenes. Thank goodness they were unpolished versions that didn’t take too much of my time.

One thing is for sure, this was the easy part. After a few days of researching the setting and time frame of my story, I’m ready to start expanding the story on a scene by scene basis tomorrow, right from the very first line.

This will clearly be a very long phase of the writing process, but I’m certain I’ve sorted out most, if not all, of the plot issues that might try to impede my process.

Next time I’ll blog a bit about the setting of my novel. So stick around.

All the best.

Goals for 2012

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:00:24 +0100

It would be ideal if the world did not end in 2012. But, because that’s out of my hands (Or is it?), I’ll just set out a few goals that I can and hopefully will achieve.

Normally it’s not a good idea to make New Year’s resolutions public, but I’m going to stick to a bit of advice I grew up with: “Show your flaws. Let people notice them. Only then will you truly make an effort to correct them.” So by letting you all in on my goals for this year, I’ll hopefully be more motivated to achieve them. And when it comes to writing, working on your flaws with other writers is the best way to improve.

So here they are in no particular order (Except of course if more important things tend to pop up in my mind first; we’ll never know):

- Finish two novels.

- Look for suitable agents and submit at least one novel to said agents.

- Break into a few bigger markets like Apex, Shimmer, The Gloaming etc.

- Publish at least another twenty short stories (Fifteen seems a bit more rational with all the novels I’m working on, but that just wouldn’t be pushing myself enough).

- Get into a few more anthologies with some of the more recognizable names in horror fiction.

- Finish the final draft of my four issue zombie comic book and submit it.

- 250 fans for my “Joe Mynhardt’s Short Stories” page on Facebook.

- 70 blog followers (If you know anyone who might enjoy blogs about haunted houses and other scary stuff, including tips on horror writing, feel free to send them my way).

- And let’s not forget the usual drop 5kg resolution.

- Don’t lose my day job.

- Don’t go to jail or collect $200.

Other than that I just want to be open to any other possibilities or opportunities that come my way. If 2011 was any indicator of what to expect in 2012, this year will truly be full of surprises.

All the best.

My Year in Review – 2011

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 07:00:31 +0100

Although 2011 was layered with personal challenges, it truly was a great year for me. As challenges tend to do, they made me stronger, not just as a writer or teacher, but as a person.

On the writing front it has been my best year yet, publishing twenty five short stories. My personal goal was to get twenty stories published before the end of the year; I’m now on thirty six. And yes, I’m still counting. Counting my blessings, so to say.

I’ve also managed to break into a few bigger short story markets, including Short-Story.Me, Silver Blade Magazine, Dark Moon Books and Morpheus Tales. My biggest goal for 2011 was to get into an actual print magazine, which I did. Unfortunately it will only be available late in 2012.

The Dark Minds anthology, which includes my short story Vengeance of Hades, was nominated by ‘This is Horror’ for the best anthology of 2011. This was a huge compliment for Ross Anthony Warren and the guys at Dark Minds. This was my very first nomination for any kind of literary award.

My goal was also to start my very first novel this year. After a lot of trial runs of about 10 000 words, I’m proud to say I’m now 24 000 words in and the plot is looking strong.

Overall I’ve learned a lot of new writing techniques this year, either through trial and error, reading, or advice from other writers. I’ll never be naïve enough to believe there is nothing new for me to learn.

I’ve met some great writers over the year as well, especially through Facebook, Mywriterscircle.com and IFWG Publishing. I look forward working with some of these writers next year.

My 'Joe Mynhardt's Short Stories' page on Facebook, which I believe I started somewhere in the middle of the year, has grown to 141 fans. My goal for the end of the year was at least 100 fans.

I also took on a new challenge this year by becoming an Assistant Submissions Editor for The South African Literary Journal, New Contrast.

One of my biggest personal goals for the year was to get involved with charity work, especially since I was spending so much time on my writing. I didn’t want people to think I was self-centred or something. I opened a page for the charities I support on my website, and contribute 10% of all my writing income to them.

Just spending some time at one of my favourite charities.

With a brand new Kindle, I’ve also started reading a lot more, if that’s even possible, so next year should be quite interesting on the reading front.

Let’s not forget I’m a primary school teacher as well (where do I get the time?). It was a tough year, but after seven years of teaching, I’m finally finding myself. I’ve also been appointed as the head of safety as well as occupational safety for the school. I even went on a drug testing seminar (Yes, they tested me as well). Hopefully I won’t have to use the test on kids.

Stay tuned for my list of goals in 2012. It should be interesting.

All the best.